Daytona's Numbers mean a Big Myrtle Beach?

[pushrod]

From the Sun News:

Daytona rally a big hit, could be sign of Myrtle Beach's future

Daytona Beach offers glimpse of what May could be like for MB

By Lorena Anderson - landerson@thesunnews.com

The common thought on motorcycle rallies is as Daytona Beach goes, so goes Myrtle Beach.

If that's true, people who were hoping for a quieter year this year might be disappointed.

"I think our numbers were actually up from last year," said Kevin Killian, senior vice president for the Daytona Beach Halifax Area Chamber of Commerce, estimating 500,000 people visited the city and surrounding areas between Feb. 27 and March 8.

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"The restaurants and hotels did well because people have to eat and sleep. But I don't know how the vendors did, because you didn't see a lot of people walking around with bags."

Myrtle Beach spokesman Mark Kruea said Daytona Beach provides a general trend to watch for the city, but this year is anyone's guess.

Will the economy keep people away? Will the city's efforts to quell the rallies that bring half a million people to the Grand Strand each May work? Will the original Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers' rally's move affect the crowds?

"Everyone wants that answer, I suppose," said Taylor Damonte, director of the Clay Brittain Jr. Center for Resort Tourism at Coastal Carolina University. His office watches room rentals and estimates the number of visitors to the area.

But he hasn't started sampling hotels and rentals for the month of May yet.

"Usually we sample about four weeks out, then go back in two weeks and take the same sample again," Damonte said.

This year, though, he said there's a lot more last-minute booking than in previous years, which means a lot of variability in the samples.

Damonte said there could be many reasons for that, from airlines and hotels offering discounts for last-minute travelers to people simply being uncertain about their ability to afford vacations this year.

"We really have no idea," Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes said about May. "Nobody has an answer. We're just going to do the best job we can."

Jimmy Flynt, spokesman for the Daytona Beach Police Department, said during the final weekend of that city's 10-day rally, the city's nearly 10,000 motel rooms were fully occupied.

"We had a really fantastic bike week," Flynt said. "There were definitely more people than usual."

Other than a day of rain and a couple of days of cooler temperatures, Killian said the weather this year was perfect for a bike rally. He said he didn't hear much talk about Myrtle Beach, though he did see a few fliers around letting people know that the Harley-Davidson Cruisin' the Coast rally, scheduled for May 8-17, has not been canceled. Banner planes flew along the Florida coast trailing signs that said the same thing. At this point, Atlantic Beach's Bikefest has not been canceled or moved, either.
Mike Shank, event promoter for Harley-Davidson of Myrtle Beach, which sponsors the Cruisin' the Coast rally, said he has heard riders say they will come but avoid Myrtle Beach in response to the city's new ordinances, like the local helmet law, and he has heard others say they won't come at all.

And there are certainly other events for those who want to ride, like the Thunder Beach Spring Rally in Panama City Beach, Fla., from April 30 to May 3, and the Great Smoky Mountains Bike Week in Sevierville, Tenn., from May 7 through 10.

But the city says, as it has all along, it's not bikers it hopes to discourage, it's the huge rallies that, in running back-to-back, last almost three weeks and generate complaints from residents about public lewdness, trash, reckless driving and noise.

"As long as people respect our beach and our laws," Rhodes said, "we want them to come and have a great time."

[mscuddy]

I knew a girl named Myrlte, and she was a beech allright.